Please look at 5 day menu (4 year old)

(Erica Ramirez) #1

I am trying to have my 4 (almost 5) year old daughter consume less sugar. I worry that this isn’t a “balanced” diet. Does she need less fruit, more veggies? More carbs/grains/etc? She also has a children’s vitamin every evening.
Can you please critique her last 5 days, I wrote down everything she ate. Please give me any tips. She will eat just about anything I offer her.
She’s a very active, muscular girl - soccer, gymnastics, swim, something, every day!

Only water (some flavored or sparkling etc)

2 sausage patties
2/3 medium Apple
1/2 Tuna package with mustard
1 Slice cheese
2 Bacon small slices
McD’s double cheeseburger (no bun/ketchup)
Riced cauliflower with carrots/peas (few bites)
Meat lovers pizza toppings only (1 slice toppings)
1/2 chef salad with ranch, ham & cheese

1/4 cup full fat, plain Greek yogurt with mixed berries
2/3 medium Apple
Keto burrito (ground beef wrapped in baked cheese) (only ate few bites)
1 plain Hotdog
Riced cauliflower with carrots/peas + Ground beef (few bites)

Broccoli + cheese sauce 1/2 bag
Pie 5, cauliflower pizza with marinara, cheese, ham, olives (2 small slices)
Small clementine Orange
Sunflower seeds (very few)
SF jello cup
Baked chicken
1/2 cup Charro pinto beans

FF, plain Greek yogurt with bit SF peach preserves (few bites)
2 sausage patties
2/3 small Apple
Salmon 1/2 package
3 Cucumber slices
Green beans buttered (maybe a teaspoon total)
2/3 small Apple
SF Peanut butter cup fat bomb
8 Meatballs + bit of marinara
Clementine Orange
1/2 cup whole Milk

Oatmeal, milk, butter, natural Peanut butter; monk fruit (maybe 5 small bites)
5 Mini Tomatoes
2 eggs, scrambled with cheese, butter
1/4 Avocado
Brussel sprouts
2 full slice Bacon
6 Baby Carrots in ranch

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #2

Personally, I would go easy on the fruits, but that’s just me. I don’t see any juice or soda pop on the list, which is very good. Dr. Lustig’s pediatric obesity clinic at the University of California at San Francisco only permits water and milk as drinks for the children in their care. It seems as though every other drink targeted at children is fattening.

I would also suggest going easy on the sugar-free products. Double-check the list of ingredients. How about berries and possibly heavy cream for dessert, instead?

I am amazed that a child that age is willing to eat Brussels sprouts—excellent!

There is sugar-free ketchup available, but perhaps it’s best to leave well-enough alone.

Beans are iffy on keto, though they do have a lot of protein.

I believe you are doing your child a real service by raising her on a ketogenic diet. That will serve her well in her later years. One caution: don’t spare the protein, the way we advise for adults. Growing children need more, especially during the pubertal growth spurt. There is apparently an instinct for getting enough protein that we all have, so if she seems to crave more protein, let her have it. In the absence of carbohydrate, she will not put on fat, no matter how much protein or fat she eats (the normal satiety signaling will shut off her appetite and keep her from overeating). It is the combination of fat with carbohydrate that is so deadly.

(Lauren) #3

I don’t feel qualified to critique another parent’s food choices for their kids. I am trying to do the same though. I don’t want my kids growing up with the same food issues I have.

My 3yr old and 4yr old are not strictly keto, but they are lower carb/no processed crap. They do eat fruits, but they also spend most of their day running and climbing.

Here’s a look at yesterday:

Breakfast:
Frittata (sausage, cheese, bell pepper, mushroom)
1/2 a banana
10 blueberries

Snack: a big spoonful of peanut butter (a fave)

Lunch:
3 deviled eggs
10 pieces pepperoni
Bell pepper strips smeared with cream cheese

Snack: some cheese

Dinner:
Pork chops
Broccoli/cheese/bacon casserole
Strawberry slices.

They drink mostly water, though the 3yr old still drinks some milk with breakfast. They are home with me 98% of the time and we rarely eat out. I don’t get fussed with what they eat when not at home. If they want the pancakes on the very rare occasion we eat out (like once a quarter rare) then I don’t care. They are both in the 9th percentile for height and around the 85th for weight, so they are doing well.

My older 3 kids (10, 14, 16) eat school lunches and crap with their dad, but when here they also eat keto and are doing great as well.

(Erica Ramirez) #4

Can you give me your broccoli/cheese/bacon recipe? I use one with chicken in it and it’s a big time favorite (my girl LOVES broccoli), so if yours is different I can mix it in :slight_smile:

#5

I reckon definitely avoid ketchup entirely. People get in the habit of putting ketchup on everything, then they’ll use it sugar free or not.

I grew up without ketchup, so it seems doable. Pity my kids didn’t follow that example. It’s the first thing they ask for. I wonder why.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #6

Do either of you give your kids a multi-vitamin, out of curiosity and are you paying special attention to calcium?

(Lauren) #7

I don’t measure anything when I cook, so good luck.

Bag of frozen broccoli
1/2 lb bacon
Sour cream
Cream cheese (softened)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic pwdr
Onion owed
Chili pwdr
Cheddar cheese

Preheat 350
Cook broccoli. Cook bacon. Drain broccoli. Mix cream cheese, sour cream, and spices together. Mix this into broccoli. Also mix in 2/3 cheddar and 1/3 bacon. Dump in casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese/bacon. Cook for 30-ish minutes.

(Erica Ramirez) #8

Yes mine takes a chewable kids vitamin daily. Honestly I’m about to get another, iron free one and give her 1 of each I think.
Calcium is exactly what I am worried about - and potassium. Please tell me why you specifically mentioned calcium!
I actually went to look at calcium supplements today but ended up not buying anything extra yet.
I had to “force” (bribe lol) the while milk down, she isn’t a milk drinker…but I can’t imagine the bread products & goldfish etc are providing more calcium than this type of eating ??? Broccoli is her absolute favorite & that’s high in calcium…

(Erica Ramirez) #9

Thank you! Sounds great.
Very similar to mine, I just add packet of dry ranch and grilled chicken, shredded/chunks.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #10

We can just store a lot when we’re younger and after 20-30 it’s a matter of eating to hold on to what you have. (I have bone marrow/blood cancer and my doc said at 43 I either have strong bones or I don’t based on now much calcium I had access to as a young person.) Do some research or ask your pediatrician about safe and useful supplements or work to be sure it’s adequate in the diet.

(Lauren) #11

I give them a chewable vitamin, but I don’t focus on calcium. All 5 of mine eat their weight in cheese and broccoli regularly, plus other good sources.